TEHRAN – Noam Chomsky asserts that Saudi Arabia is not only spreading “Wahhabi/Salafi doctrine” but also “funding terrorist groups”.

In an exclusive and yet short interview with the Tehran Times, the renowned U.S. academic also says the claim by Western countries that they support human rights values is a “farce”.

In an interview with Democracy Now in mid-May, Chomsky also said the Saudi kingdom is a “a source of not only funding for extremist radical Islam and the jihadi outgrowths of it, but also, doctrinally, mosques, clerics and so on, schools, you know, madrassas, …, is spreading all over the huge Sunni areas from Saudi influence.”
 
Following is the text of Tehran Times’ interview with Chomsky:

Q: Mr. Chomsky you have said that Saudi Arabia is a “center of radical Islamic extremism”. What are your evidences for such a claim?
A: The huge literature on Saudi efforts to spread Wahhabi/Salafi doctrine and fund terrorist groups.
Q: If Saudi Arabia is the main center of radicalism is it because of Wahhabi ideology?
A: Primarily. That plus huge wealth and missionary culture.
Q: Why do Western countries such as the United States claim support for liberal values but back a country like Saudi Arabia which you have said “has one of the most grotesque human rights records in the world?
A: Because their claim of liberal values is a farce.